War on Darkness
by daniel.mfvintern
Summary: Squall's journey to becoming Leon. Rated M for violence. AU that mostly takes the characters' FF backstory as canon
1. Intro

A/N: This story is going to follow what would eventually become the Restoration Committee during and after the fall of Radiant Garden. For the most part, it takes their Final Fantasy backstories as canon.

* * *

Cloud had disappeared. Again. Tifa and Aerith were both worried about him. Ever since they had stopped Sephiroth from destroying their planet, he had withdrawn and made himself scarce. He wasn't even returning their calls anymore. Cid had said that the last time he saw him was two months ago when Cloud needed help repairing Fenrir. He mentioned something about a weird black gunk built up in the engine. "It ain't no oil sludge, that's for damn sure," he had said.

The two women would go looking for Cloud if they weren't looking after Marlene and Denzel while Barrett was busy setting up an oil rig. It gave Tifa a headache just thinking about. The phone rang, interrupting her train of thought. It was Cloud.

"Hello?"

"You need to get everybody out of there right now."

"What?"

"I was trying to lead him away, but he's headed right for you!"

"Who? Cloud, you aren't making any sense!"

Before she could answer, the door came flying across the room, nearly crushing her if she hadn't managed to dodge.

"Hello, Tifa," an unmistakable voice said.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Tifa yelled as she searched for a way to create space between the two of them. Or at least lead him away from the others.

Sephiroth laughed at her, "you can't kill a God so easily." He lunged at her and nearly impaled her with Masamune if she had been just a fraction of a second slower. As it was, the wall behind her was nearly destroyed.

Quickly, she kicked him twice in the ribs before retreating again. It didn't even seem to register on Sephiroth that she had hit him. That worried her. She grabbed a pistol that she kept underneath the bar and unloaded the mag at him. He smirked as he casually blocked each bullet with his oversized katana. Sephiroth attacked her repeatedly and she managed to keep just ahead of his swings, looking for an opening. Suddenly, she felt time around her slow down.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Aerith but pressed the attack on Sephiroth. Not wasting any time with jabs, she threw two knees to his face followed by an elbow, bloodying his nose. Or, causing some sort of black liquid to leak from it anyway. Suddenly, Sephiroth wasn't moving slow anymore and backhanded her, sending her flying into the wall to his right.

Realizing that Tifa was out cold at the very least, Aerith desperately tried to heal her before Sephiroth could get to her. Even if she did get Tifa back in the fight, it wouldn't save her. Before she made peace with that, a black mass shot past her and straight into Sephiroth's chest. Cloud came right behind his motorcycle and attacked Sephiroth before he could recover from being blindsided by the thousand-pound vehicle going two hundred miles an hour. Cloud was going to miss the bike, but it couldn't be helped. His friends were in danger.

The world was slowly becoming engulfed in darkness. Those creatures that he'd run into earlier were spreading faster than he thought possible. Sephiroth had attacked him before he could warn the others. He was lucky that Sephiroth had left him for dead and didn't finish the job.

While the two swordsmen were locked in a duel, Aerith cast a healing spell on Tifa and noticed countless shadowy creatures swarming the area. _What on Gaia is going on?_

* * *

Squall had... taken a while to recover from the battle with Ultimecia. When he finally joined them outside of the Orphanage, he was half-dead from being stuck in Time-Compression for too long. He spent a week recovering in a comatose state. When he was back on his feet, the Garden threw a ball to celebrate their victory over the Sorceress. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Just because he had started to open up to his friends didn't mean he was suddenly a sociable person.

It turned out that while the six of them went to the future to battle Ultimecia, the rest of Garden had assisted Esthar with the monster invasion. The fighting was long and painful, taking the better part of a week before the situation was under control. Though from five of the party's perspective, they were only gone for a few hours. So, it was only natural for most of the SeeDs to want to celebrate a hard victory. Despite everything, Squall enjoyed himself a bit.

They docked at Fisherman's Horizon a little after midnight. Too wired to sleep, he went for a walk. The others were waiting for him at the exit. Of course they were. He was downright predictable for them.

"How are you feeling?" Rinoa asked.

_My head is throbbing, my joints are killing me, and I can't take my mind off that place. _"…Fine," he replied.

Quistis stifled a laugh, Squall rolled his eyes and kept walking. He didn't have anywhere in particular in mind.

"So, what brings you out here so late?" Rinoa asked.

"Can't sleep. You all?"

"We're worried about you," she answered.

"…Why?"

"Because we care about you, dumbass," Irvine said.

"I meant specifically," Squall answered.

"You were in that place for a long time, and then you were in a coma. We thought you might want to talk about it," Rinoa said.

"…Not really." The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Really, Squall. Why are you so difficult?" Rinoa asked.

Before he could answer, what looked to be Iron Giants made entirely of shadow jumped from on top of one of the buildings they walked past. They were surrounded. How could he be so careless?

Squall sprung into action, drawing his Gunblade and closed the distance on the nearest creature. He cleaved through its leg and circled around the back. When the creature fell forward, Squall climbed on top and plunged the blade through the heart and pulled the trigger. As the creature seemed to vaporize, he looked at the others. They were handling the other "Shadow Giants" well enough but he noticed that other creatures were approaching them, and all the lights were going out. Except for one. Garden went up in a massive fireball that nearly knocked Squall off of his feet. Quistis and Selphie weren't so lucky as to be able to retain their balance. A dark dragon was on them before Squall could even process it. Desperately, he summoned Bahamut, who instantly locked into battle with the shadowy creature.

Bahamut had quickly gained the upper hand and locked his jaws around the other dragon's neck when two more flew behind him and attacked his neck and tail. In a last act of defiance, the king of dragons unleashed a Mega-Flare like no other that incinerated dozens of monsters. Realization slowly set in their minds. They couldn't win. They began calling in all their Guardians Force just for some breathing room. The gods fought hard but were ultimately overwhelmed by the darkness. Rinoa tried using her sorceress powers to keep them in the fight. Quistis and Selphie weren't responding to healing magic. That would worry him later if he had a chance to think about it.

Eventually, Rinoa couldn't keep supporting them. It was just too much of a drain on her energy to constantly be casting cures and hastes and protects. Zell was the first to slip up. He tried to throw a head kick at a Behemoth shadow but lost his footing. The creature tore his leg off and tossed him into the sea. Irvine followed soon after. He ran out of ammo and had to resort to a saber for close quarters. As good of a fencer as he was, he was out of his element and quickly overwhelmed. A shadow in the form of a person dueled him and quickly overwhelmed him with sheer ferocity. _I recognize that form… _

The shadow Seifer plunged his blade through Irvine's chest and pulled the trigger. Squall quickly finished off the dragon he had been facing and went after his corrupted rival. Predictably, Seifer rushed in with aggressive, powerful swings, Form V. Squall countered by defaulting to the more defensive Form III. Meanwhile, Rinoa found herself desperately trying to fend off two Sorceress shadows. Squall disengaged from Seifer and rushed over to help her. One of the Sorceresses tried to hit him with an Ice Strike, Squall easily dodged and blocked the projectiles. The other Sorceress hit him with a gravity spell and Squall found he couldn't move. It was all he could do to keep his heart pumping blood to his brain. Still, he crawled forward. Rinoa cast a flurry of spells at that Sorceress and ripped her apart.

The first Sorceress launched another Ice Strike at the two of them. Squall could barely get to his feet in time to watch the projectiles make their way towards him. Rinoa cast a Shell around him but was impaled by one of the spears herself. He was seeing red.

Before the Sorceress could react, Squall ignored his pain and lopped her limbs off. As he was about to finish her off with a strike to the heart, Seifer blocked him. He found himself sinking into a pit of darkness and only able to block Seifer's onslaught until he was completely engulfed. Squall knew no more.


	2. Chapter 01

Squall woke up with a monstrous headache. _How much did I have to drink?_ His entire body was sore as well. He looked around and found himself in an unfamiliar alleyway, his Gunblade was next to him. As he grabbed it, he remembered everything up until he had been swallowed by darkness.

"You don't look too good," a bright voice said behind him. He turned around; nobody had been behind him a moment ago. She was wearing a green tank top with shorts and a white headband; she couldn't have been more than thirteen years old.

He nodded at her, unsure how to respond. "Where am I?"

"A little town called Nautica," she told him. He looked at her blankly. She sighed. "You see that castle? That's Ansem's place. He's pretty much the king of the whole world around here. The name's Yuffie by the way."

"King Ansem? So, I'm in Radiant Garden?" Squall had seen the world off in the distance while he was onboard Ragnarök a few weeks ago. Hyne, Gaia, and Radiant Garden all shared a single solar system. But outside of some radio communication, the three worlds had little contact with each other.

"Yep! Come on, let me take you to see Merlin. At the very least, he'll be able to get you a new set of clothes." She winked at him. It was around then that he realized that his jacket and pants were in tatters. _Perfect_.

Merlin turned out to be an eccentric old wizard with something of a grandfatherly demeanor. Or at least, what Squall imagined a grandfather would be like. "Oh dear, we have another one. Young man, are you all right?" Merlin asked.

_Do I look all right?_ "…I'm fine."

"I see. I must admit that was a silly question. I should have asked if you were injured," Merlin clarified.

Squall thought about it, his clothes were torn up but he seemed fine. "No."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Merlin asked.

"We were ambushed by some kind of shadow creatures."

"Just like what happened with Yuffie's friends. If Ansem were here he might be able to shed some light on the matter," Merlin said.

The door opened and an overgrown mouse about the size of a Moomba with a high-pitched voice interrupted, "They're Heartless. I'm sorry, mister but they've been making entire worlds disappear. I came as soon as I heard about Gaia."

"Your highness," Merlin nodded.

"So, are you King Ansem?" Squall asked, slightly bewildered. _Am I dead?_

The mouse laughed, "Nope, I'm King Mickey. I've been investigating the disappearing worlds for a few weeks now. Now who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

"I'm Squall."

"Were you from Gaia?" Mickey asked.

He shook his head, "Hyne."

Mickey's face dropped. "That's two worlds in less than a week."

"You said, 'we were ambushed'," Merlin said, "who else was with you?"

"…My friends. Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Irvine Kinneas, Quistis Trepe, and Rinoa Heartilly," Squall answered.

"Do you think they made it off of their world?" Merlin asked.

Squall shook his head, "I watched them die. I don't even know how I made it off."

"Without a ship of some kind, the only way to escape a world being consumed by Heartless is with a strong heart," Mickey said. Squall must have looked confused. "Other than peculiar cases like this cluster, worlds are separated by a magical barrier that can only be unlocked by a Keyblade," Mickey saw the confused look on his face. "Here, let me give you some copies of Ansem's findings. I'm sorry I can't stick around for long but there are other places that need help too." Mickey handed Squall a rather large file and left. He would have to read it when he got the chance.

_That was… interesting._ "Peculiar fellow, that one," Merlin said. "Now I know you must be exhausted but I have a few more questions for you." Squall nodded. "Are you a mercenary?"

"How did you know?"

"You carry yourself like a military man, but your hair is too long and unkempt for most militaries to be comfortable with. A blade like that is definitely a specialist's weapon, not something that most militaries would be issuing. Finally, you've obviously spent some time commanding but don't look a day over eighteen. It takes time to climb ranks in a military."

Squall grunted. This Merlin was obviously the observant type.

"My next question: are you willing to help us fight for our world?"

These Heartless had consumed his world. Killed his friends and girlfriend. They were going to pay. How could he say no? "I'm going to kill them all," Squall answered.

Merlin seemed sad but satisfied, "There is a room upstairs that you can sleep in for the time being. But I have a feeling that we'll be facing the Heartless here soon. I should have some clothes that fit you in there," Merlin gestured towards what was left of Squall's outfit.

"Thanks," Leon said and then made his way up towards the room in question. It was about the same size as his room on Garden when he had become a full SeeD. The dresser was somehow full of clothes that would fit him perfectly. _Remember, he is a wizard_. He settled on some cargo pants and a combat shirt without any kind of camouflage pattern.

Before heading to bed, he read through the file that Mickey had handed him.

_Concerning Keyblades:_

_A Keyblade is simultaneously a weapon of extraordinary potential as it is a magical item capable of unlocking anything, conventional lock, magical one, or even one's own potential. I believe that they are inextricably linked to the shadow creatures that I have named Heartless._

_Despite the lack of an actual cutting edge in most cases, they are wielded in a manner similar to conventional blades and are able to cut through most materials with the proper force behind them._

_It is my belief that they are inextricably linked to Kingdom Hearts, which I have also studied extensively. It should also be noted that there are legends of an X-blade, which Keyblades are made in the image of._

_More practically, it appears that Keyblades choose their masters based on the strength and purity of their hearts. It should be noted that "pure" in this case does not mean good. It simply means pure light or pure darkness. A conflicted heart, no matter how strong, seems unable to master the Keyblade. More study on the matter is necessary in order to predict who may inherit one._

Frustrated and more confused than before, Squall went to sleep. When he woke up, he planned to train like he was going to face the Sorceress by himself.

When he woke up, Squall looked for Merlin to ask him for a place he could train. "Of course, my boy. Head to the attic. That room should have whatever you need," the old wizard said.

He wasn't wrong. The room was larger than the rest of the house combined. Squall wasn't sure how it all fit in the seemingly humble cabin, but he just chalked it up to magic and got started. He began with an hour hitting the heavy bag. While he specialized in the way of the Gunblade, all SeeD were trained in hand to hand, marksmanship, and fencing. It was up to them to specialize when they hit their teens. After his knuckles, elbows, and knees were bloody, he found an empty area and drew his Gunblade. A training dummy came to life with a blade drawn.

"How would you like to train, master?" it said. That threw him off.

"Take an offensive style," Squall said.

Instead of answering, the dummy lunged at him with a flurry of blows. Squall instantly set up his guard and made an impenetrable defense. After a few minutes, he realized that fighting a dummy wasn't quite like fighting a person so Form III wouldn't lead him to victory. People eventually made mistakes that he could capitalize on. They got tired and sloppy. A dummy fueled by magic on the other hand would maintain perfection. He switched to the more aggressive and acrobatic Form IV. Despite being fueled by magic, the dummy couldn't keep up with the constant barrage of attacks from every angle that Squall was dealing and was quickly disarmed. He repeated this for hours, constantly changing the Forms so that he would be able to counter any opponent. He was so wrapped up in his training that he didn't notice he was being watched at first.

"How long have you been standing there?" He asked Yuffie.

"Long enough to realize that I don't want to get in a fight with you," she joked.

He grunted and returned the Gunblade to its sheath. He needed to build more strength to be able to use Forms V and VII to their fullest potential.

"You don't talk much, do you?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the weights. Cut off from the power of GFs, he needed to build more of his own. At some point, Yuffie left him alone. After another two hours, he noticed another person had entered the room. She was petite with long brown hair, wearing a white dress and a red coat.

"Are you almost done?" she asked.

"Wrapping up," he answered.

"I'm Aerith, by the way," she said.

"Squall."

"Merlin said you would be up here. Do you want to talk?" she asked.

"…Not really."

She didn't seem satisfied, but she didn't press him. "Dinner is almost ready. Would you like to join us?"

_Have I been up here that long?_ "Sure."

Upon leaving the room, he felt strangely refreshed. He also noticed that his knuckles were no longer bloody, just callused. It must have some sort of restorative properties.

The dinner table was actually somewhat crowded. Yuffie and Merlin were there, along with two blond guys, one around Squall's age, and one old enough to be the other's father. There was also a dark-haired woman that Squall had to look at again due to her passing resemblance to Rinoa. It wasn't her of course. _She's dead._ Dinner consisted of chicken and rice. Simple but effective.

"Squall, I'm glad you could join us!" Merlin beamed.

"Thank you," he replied and took a seat. Conversations buzzed around him, but he paid them no mind. He needed to eat so he could grow stronger. If he was going to be cutoff from the GFs and their abilities to make him superhuman, he needed to find a new way to get to where he was. And then he needed to surpass it. If he was going to take back what he'd lost, or at least stop the Heartless from continuing their destructive rampage, he'd have to be more than he'd ever been. He got so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize that one of the conversations had turned towards him.

"You still there?" The older blond asked.

"Hmm?" Squall replied.

"Merlin says you're a mercenary," he said.

Squall grunted.

"You look a little young to be a Merc. How old are you?" Cid asked.

"Seventeen."

"Fucking Christ. What organization were you with?" he asked.

"SeeD."

"I ain't ever heard of SeeD. Where did you say you were from?" he asked.

"Hyne."

"…They got you guys too then," he said. "The name's Cid. Cid Highwind, resident mechanic and aerospace engineer. Mister tall, dark and brooding is Cloud. The young lady who called you down here is Aerith, she's our healer. The other young lady is Tifa, martial arts expert. Finally, the kid is Yuffie, she thinks she's a ninja."

"Pleasure." He was silent for a minute. "How do we stop them?" he asked.

"We don't know. They seemed to come out of nowhere and suddenly they were everywhere. We escaped on my ship," Cid said.

Squall frowned. "Where do they come from?"

"I believe King Ansem was studying the Heartless. It's possible that he recorded his findings somewhere," Merlin said.

Squall nodded, finished his food, cleaned after himself, and left. After a few minutes he realized that he was being followed. About two minutes after that, Yuffie tried sneaking up on him.

"Yes?" Squall asked before she was able to try to scare him.

She immediately deflated, "You're no fun."

"Sorry to disappoint."

"You do know that nobody goes up there, right?" She asked.

"Not my problem."

"They say it's haunted," she warned.

"I've dealt with worse," he answered.

"What do you think you'll find up there?" She asked.

"Answers."

"To what?" she followed up.

"Questions."

"Do you even know where to start looking?"

"Library."

"Do you want help?" she asked.

"Can't hurt," he replied.

"Good because I so happen to have borrowed a map of the place!" she beamed.

The castle was obviously abandoned. The corridors were almost pitch black, requiring Squall to use a high-powered flashlight in order to see. Yuffie, who had continued chattering about god only knows what, had grown uncharacteristically silent; Squall noticed that something wasn't right at about the same time. There was something moving outside of the light, staying just outside of the spill. Gunblade in hand, he pointed the light at the ceiling, allowing it to illuminate the entire area, and revealed a muscle-bound humanoid demon wielding a large blade. _Must be a type of Heartless,_ Squall thought as he parried the creature's thrust and stepped back. The creature was overly committed to his attack and sailed right past him.

"Catch," he said as he tossed Yuffie the flashlight.

The creature again attacked him with a wide, telegraphed swing. Squall simply stepped forward and thrust his Gunblade through the creature's neck, causing it to vaporize.

"Thanks," he said as they continued walking forward

"You know something? I thought you were just like Cloud, but you aren't," she said after a few moments.

"Is that so?" he asked.

"Yeah! I mean you're both brooding all the time and carry these really big swords, but he would've sent me back right away," she said.

"Would that have made you stop coming?" he asked.

"No but that isn't the point! You don't treat me like a little kid," she beamed.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"I'm eleven!" she said proudly.

"That's about right then."

"About right for what?" She asked.

"To be fighting."

"Well that's a little dark," she said.

"Is that so?" he asked. He'd been training to be a SeeD since he was about five and had fought his first monster at eight.

"You're weird," she said.

"Am I?" he had never thought about it. He opened the door to the library.

"That's… a lot of books," she said, losing her train of thought.

_She isn't wrong. _Each bookshelf was about eight feet tall and four feet wide and there were dozens of them on each level of the library. _I hope there's a catalog_. He looked around but couldn't find one, so he manually looked at each book looking for relevant titles. After hours of searching, he hadn't found anything related to the Heartless. Plenty of interesting volumes, including the Book of Five Rings by an ancient warrior, a few on swordsmanship, and some concerning the various worlds that inhabited the galaxy. But none that were what he was actually looking for.

"I'm sleepy," Yuffie said.

"So, go back and sleep," he said.

"Are you really going to be here all night?" she asked.

"As long as I have to."

"Okay, well you have a copy of the map so don't get lost without me," she said as she left him alone. He grunted.

"That's actually a good idea," he mumbled as he pulled it out a few minutes later. The library was a dead-end. He imagined that Ansem would have a study somewhere. In retrospect, he should've started there.

"You know you can't keep this up," an all-too familiar voice said.

"Rinoa?" He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Of course, silly!" she gave him a playful shove.

"How?"

"I know we weren't together for long, but I do love you," she said.

That caught him off-guard. Of course, he felt the same way, but they had never said it. "I love you too," he finally answered.

"I know," she smiled.

"You aren't really here, are you?" he asked.

She smiled tearfully and shook her head.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It wasn't your fault," she answered, her voice cracking.

"It was my job to take care of you."

"And it was my job as your girlfriend to make your job difficult," she teased.

He frowned.

"I'm just teasing you. It was our job to take care of each other. And we did. You saved me more times than I could count. You jumped into outer space for me, crazy!" she laughed at the last part. "You couldn't stop what was happening. I don't think anybody could."

"There has to be a way," he answered.

She shook her head, "Just don't kill yourself doing it."

"Whatever it takes," he declared. He blinked and she was gone. He was alone again.


	3. Chapter 02

The castle was a maze that reminded him of Ultimecia's place. Without the map, he's sure he would've gotten lost. There were a few random Heartless like he had faced earlier but overall, they were easy to dispatch. When he finally made it up to the study, it was about midnight, based on how the moon looked through the window at least. On top of the desk was a journal, which Squall immediately opened up.

Entry 1:

_Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge._

_That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that._

_I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand._

_I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times._

_Darkness...Darkness of the heart. How is it born?_

_How does it come to affect us so?_

_As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness._

Entry 2:

_It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:_

_Extract the darkness from a person's heart._

_Cultivate darkness in a pure heart._

_Both suppress and amplify the darkness within._

_The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle._

_Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?_

Entry 3:

_The shadows that crawl beneath the castle... Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination?_

_All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart._

_Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless._

Entry 4:

_The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace._

_I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves._

_Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?_

_It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?_

Entry 5:

_To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence._

_It had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door. What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy? That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?_

Entry 6:

_A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless._

_The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too-the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world._

_The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?_

Entry 7:

_I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily. None of the records even mention such a substance._

_Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world... I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow._

_But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place._

Entry 8:

_There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart._

_As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless._

_This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially._

Entry 9:

_Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world. He is a king, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces "gummi blocks". It seemed that my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel._

_We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "Keyblade". The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power._

_One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it. I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened._

Entry 10:

_Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart._

_Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing._

_My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness._

Entry 11:

_Opening the door to a world's heart causes its walls to crumble._

_These fragments are seen as shooting stars_

_This explains why these "gummi blocks" can travel freely to other worlds._

_I know the catalyst of this collapse—the appearance of the Heartless. However, it will take time search out the worlds' doors and to retrieve each heart._

_Furthermore, the doors can be locked using a Keyblade, making the heart forever unattainable. I must take action before the wielder of the key appears in this world._

_If the princesses and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate._

_I've chosen a girl. I don't know if she holds the princesses' powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer._

_I shall set her free and observe._

Entry 12:

_The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet, nothing._

_This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain and it has yet to take the form of a Heartless._

_A close eye must be kept on the situation. Much is still unknown._

_To get to the realm of Darkness, one must go through the doors of Kingdom Hearts, the place where the world's hearts connect._

_Beyond this world is a place in which darkness reigns. (Details shall be archived in a separate report.)_

_There are many worlds in existence, some of which we know nothing about._

_The world in which we live. The realm of Darkness. The realm of Light._

_And the world in between._

_Wherein lies true Nirvana?_

Entry 13:

_Where does the body go when it separates from the heart? If the soul remains within the body, is it still considered to be deceased?_

_When the heart returns to the Heartless, the physical form disappears. But that is merely true in this world. Perhaps the body exists in another form in another world._

_If that is the case, then it is possible for one to exist in two worlds._

_A being that is neither darkness nor light; belonging nowhere; abandoned by its heart; a mere shell of its former self._

_The relation between the heart and body is complex. However, I am certain that if your self exists here, then by definition, the other cannot truly "exist."_

_The other, the one which does not exist, shall be dubbed, "Nobody."_

It was a lot to process. He wasn't quite sure what it all meant, but he knew one thing for certain; he needed to get his hands on a "Keyblade" if he was going to save this world and any others. He also needed to look into these "Gummi blocks" if he was going to be able to travel to other worlds to kill the Heartless across the galaxy. Squall began looking through every nook and cranny for more information or something useful. Inside of the desk was a key labeled "Armory," which Squall immediately pocketed. There was also a book titled "On Surpassing the Limits of Human Potential" which he opened and began reading.

_The human body, barring augmentations, has very limited potential for strength and speed when compared to the animal kingdom. For example, chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary relative, are nearly four times as strong as a human proportionally. While this does come with certain drawbacks, it does pose an interesting question: how can a human go beyond their species' seemingly limited potential? I have done extensive research on the topic and will be discussing the primary methods of doing so. The first method is performance-enhancing drugs; the second is biochemical augmentation; the third is bio-mechanical augmentation; the third is genetic modification; finally, there is magical augmentation._

_Performance-enhancing drugs are most often used by high-level athletes and occasionally militaries in order to recover faster and fight for longer periods of time than is otherwise natural. However, prolonged use takes a heavy toll on the body. This is in addition to taking the longest amount of time, usually several weeks, before it noticeably affects performance beyond simple recovery. They are the simplest to make and apply by far._

_Biochemical augmentation in this case, refers to modifying the body's organs to produce new or more hormones, often to increase muscle mass, bone density, and/or reaction time. In short, the effects are similar to those of performance-enhancing drugs while being less harmful long-term as well as faster. However, it does require potentially dangerous surgery._

_Biomechanical augmentation, also referred to as bionic augmentation, is the artificial alteration and modification of the human body and its abilities and limitations by mechanical and bionic means. Historically, this was most often limited to prosthetic limbs. However, recent advances in technology have allowed for the plausibility of replacing organs and enhanced prosthetic limbs. The effects are nearly instantaneous; however, biomechanical augmentation requires very dangerous and invasive surgery._

_Fourth is genetic modification which, most often is applied via a virus that modifies the subject's DNA and by extension, protein synthesis. These enhancements can take several weeks before the effects are noticeable, and years before the changes are complete._

_Finally, magical enhancements to a person is the fastest method of increasing performance. It is also the most complicated. Based on observations of certain residents of the planet Hyne, magic can be used to give people superhuman abilities. The residents of Hyne accomplish this by using gods as a "junction" to allow the magic to properly interact with their bodies. The residents of Gaia accomplish something similar using a substance called "Materia." However, when cut off from their gods, the residents of Hyne become mere humans, albeit, very athletic ones near the peak of human potential. The residents of Gaia on the other hand, generally have more subdued enhancements except for those who have taken Mako and Jenova cells directly into their bodies. Since Materia and Mako are directly connected to that planet's "Lifestream" (possibly the planet's Heart?), it is currently unknown what would happen if something were to happen to the said Lifestream. I hypothesize that it is possible to synthesize a Junction catalyst, allowing for magical enhancements on any person without requiring attachment to any deities. I will continue my research in my laboratory._

Squall immediately left the study and headed towards the lab.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Rinoa asked.

"I don't have any GFs. I need to get strong," he answered.

"Jesus, Squall, did you even read those notes? That stuff is dangerous!" she said.

"So is losing."

"This isn't healthy," she said.

"Neither is getting impaled."

"Oh, come on, Squall! Just because I'm dead doesn't mean that doesn't hurt," she pouted.

"You left me," he whispered.

"I didn't leave you, Squall. I died," she pointed out.

"It should've been me. I swore I would be your knight. Some hero I turned out to be," he said.

"You saved the world from the Sorceress that took the powers of every Sorceress in history," she pointed out.

"With a lot of help. And the world ended anyway," he countered.

She sighed, "You're impossible, do you know that?"

He shrugged and opened the door to the lab. The place was a wreck, but at least the lights worked. Squall sighed at a seemingly dead-end. He had no idea how to even begin repairing the equipment in here. Or even which one was the right one. Rinoa was gone again. Before he turned to leave, he saw something moving in a corner, so he moved to investigate, Gunblade at his preferred medium guard.

When he drew closer, he realized that the movement was a very wounded canine that had gotten trapped under some rubble. The dog growled at him when he got too close. _I'll either help it out or put him down if I have to._ He may be cold, but that was no reason to let things suffer if it could be avoided. Squall put the Gunblade back in its sheath and slowly approached the dog. When the dog didn't try to bite him, he lifted the rubble off its back. The dog slowly crawled forward; its hind legs trailed uselessly behind it. Squall double-checked his supply of potions, he had two strapped to his leg and four more on the belt around his waist. He opened one and poured it onto the dog's injuries. The dog barked happily and ran off. Since he was already here longer than he'd expected, he decided to search the lab for anything useful.

There were a lot of notes and schematics that he couldn't make heads or tails of, as well as a few vials with faded labels, but nothing that he could make use of. _Maybe one of the others can help fix these machines. At least the right one if they can figure it out._ Zell had been good with machines. At least good enough to get them to work most of the time. Though considering that his "repairs" usually consisted of simply punching it until it worked, he doubted the martial artist would be of much help here.

Frustrated, he made his way towards the armory. Wondering what exactly had happened to this place. There were a few straggling Heartless, but nowhere near enough to overpower an entire castle full of people. _So, what caused so much damage and made this king disappear?_

He half-expected Rinoa's ghost to show up again. _Was she really a ghost? Or is my subconscious fucked?_ Questions like that would have to wait.

* * *

Cloud's head was ringing. That explosion had knocked him across the street. He tried getting his bearings and saw the limp bodies of Tifa and Aerith several yards away from him. Then he saw Sephiroth walking away towards some kind of dark portal. "Sephiroth! Get back here!" he screamed as he gripped his sword and ran after the man.

* * *

"Squall! Where were you?" Yuffie asked when he returned. He hadn't found anything he could bring back from the armory but there were a few interesting war machines in there.

"…What?"

"The others. They're gone!" she yelled.

"Who?"

"Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith were looking around the place but now Cloud and Tifa are gone and Aerith was hurt?"

"What happened?"

"I don't know, Aerith is still a little out of it," she looked at him, pleading for him to make it better.

"Where is she?"

"She's lying on Merlin's couch," she answered.

"Man, you just can't save anybody, can you, puberty-boy?" a sneering voice said behind him.

Squall immediately turned around, weapon drawn and ready at the medium guard. He found himself facing an all-too familiar face. Though something seemed off about him.

"Your friends, your girlfriend, and now these people? You're pathetic. How were we ever rivals?" Seifer said.

"Squall, who is that?" Yuffie asked.

"You didn't tell your new friends about me? I'm hurt, Squally," he taunted.

"Get back to Merlin's," Squall said to Yuffie.

"But-"

"Now," he growled. Intimidated, she listened and ran off as fast as she could.

"That isn't very nice; bullying a kid like that," Seifer taunted as he drew closer, Gunblade at his preferred high guard. "I'm going to enjoy this," he said then lunged at him.

Squall parried and took a step back. Squall had definitely gotten weaker since their last fight. But Seifer seemed as strong as ever.

"A little soft, are we?" Seifer said as he threw a downward slash that would've split Squall in two if he hadn't parried and moved to the side. Squall quickly thrust at Seifer's neck, but his attack was casually brushed aside by the other man's Gunblade.

"Man, it's like fighting a normal person. I was so pumped for this fight too," he said. "I guess she was right."

"Who?" Squall asked as he feinted and struck Seifer in the leg. Seifer grunted but kept upright.

"The Sorceress, of course," he said as if it should have been obvious.

"Sorceress Ultimecia is dead," Squall said.

"Not Ultimecia. The Sorceress of Darkness," Seifer said as he threw another powerful downward slash. Squall only managed to get mostly out of the way as his Gunblade was knocked aside and the blade grazed his sternum and lower ribs. Squall took advantage of Seifer's overcommitted strike and slashed his arm. Seifer punched him, sending him flying into some building.

Dazed, Squall got back to his unsteady feet and got back into a guard before Seifer could finish him off. Shots rang out and suddenly Seifer was gushing blood. "This isn't over!" he howled as a dark portal materialized behind him and he stepped through it. Squall looked over to see Cid holding an AKM.

"You all right, kid?" he asked.

He nodded and stumbled after the man as they made their way towards Merlin's house. When they got there, Cid asked if he wanted a beer. Squall nodded and looked for a first aid kit. His cut wasn't deep enough to justify the use of a potion and they didn't work on concussions anyway.

"What happened to you?" Yuffie said as he sat down at the table.

"Seifer," he answered.

"Did you beat him? Who was he?" she asked.

Squall shook his head, "an old rival."

"Rival, huh? It looked like he was kicking your ass," Cid said, handing him a beer.

"Somehow he kept his power. Or found another source," Squall answered.

"Where's mine?" Yuffie asked indignantly.

"You're too young," Cid said.

"But Squall is only seventeen!" she said.

"Seventeen going on forty. Besides, it'll help him feel better," he answered her. "Anyway, Squall, I'm gonna need you to explain that bit about keeping his power."

Squall took a drink. "On Hyne, there are these creatures called Guardians Force, or GFs. They're essentially gods. SeeD fight these gods and become allies with them so that they allow us to junction magic to ourselves. It's a very complicated process but they allow us to mimic the powers of a Sorceress, on a lower level most of the time, and give us superhuman abilities. When our world got swallowed by the Heartless, I was cutoff from them. I assume they're dead. Somehow, Seifer is just as strong or even stronger than the last time I fought him."

"Are you sure they died?" Cid asked.

"Pretty sure. I watched a few of them get overwhelmed by Heartless."

"So how did he keep his power?" Cid asked.

Squall shook his head. "Ansem was studying it, but his lab was destroyed."

"Fuck. Sephiroth, this Seifer dick, and the Heartless. The fuck are we going to do?" he asked himself.

"How good are you with machines?" Squall asked.

"Ain't found nothin' I can't fix, why?" he asked.

"I found some notes and schematics, but I can't even figure out what it says," he answered as he pulled the books out of his belt. _And Rinoa said it was ridiculous to wear so many belts_.

"Fucking hell, man. Use a potion!" Cid demanded, having realized that Squall was cut deeper than he'd thought.

Squall glanced down. _Oh._ It was a miracle that he didn't have a sucking chest wound. He must have underestimated how deep he'd been thought. He grabbed one off of his belt and watched the bone and flesh mend themselves. It stung but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Anyway, can you take a look at that stuff and see what you can do?"

"Yeah I'll look over it. I'm guessing there's some magic mixed with the tech so I'll see if Merlin can't help," Cid responded.

Squall nodded, finished his beer and made to head upstairs before he remembered something that Cid had mentioned. "Who's Sephiroth?"

Cid and Yuffie stopped dead in what they were doing.

"He's a monster," a feminine voice said behind him. Aerith had sat up from the couch. "A super soldier who went crazy, tried to become a god, and destroy the world. We thought Cloud had killed him, but he showed up again just before the Heartless did and…" she broke down into tears. "They were just kids…"

"…I see. Sorry."

"And then… again… Now they're gone too!" She said between sobs.

"What do you mean? Sephiroth attacked again?" Cid asked.

Aerith nodded, "Cloud… went after him. Tifa gave me a potion and went after Cloud… They went through some portal."

"Portal… did it look like it was made of shadows?" Cid asked. Aerith nodded again, Yuffie went over to hug her. "Squall, are you thinking the same as me?"

Squall nodded, "They're all connected." He was sure of it.

"Yeah and those two bastards were probably scouting the area before the attack, trying to pick some of us off before the big push."

"…Looks like it worked. We probably have a few days at most," Squall said.


End file.
